Summer Fun

Obviously, summer has been a little bit different this year with Covid still dictating much of our activities. We are still doing church online, parks in Bellingham are still closed, and many other activities are unavailable. We haven't been able to go to the zoo or the water park in Canada like we were hoping because the border has been closed to all non-essential travel. 

Despite all that, we have found ways to have fun and still get outside. The parks in Lynden are open, so we were able to set up a park date with the Potter's while they were in town. It was so good to catch up with them again! We brought Elias with us because he heard LJ was coming and wanted to hang out. 

Annaliese and Keziah

Such a great group of kiddos!

Elias and LJ playing chess.

On Father's Day we had a picnic at Birch Bay. 

Annaliese made Kyle a pillow!

There have been lots of walks and bike rides around the neighborhood and at Lake Padden. I also took the girls out for lunch and to Hovander Park one afternoon.

Trying on homemade masks!

At the top of the tower at Tennant Lake/Hovander Park.

Blueberry picking...yum!

Fourth of July Weekend

Considering that most of the local Fourth of July celebrations were canceled due to Covid and that I am not a huge fan of fireworks at home, our weekend was pretty low key but super enjoyable! We spent Friday morning moving the last of our stuff from our house in Ferndale and cleaning it so that it is ready for closing on Tuesday and then spent the rest of the day at home. Kyle and I went for a run around Lake Padden and Annaliese came along and rode her bike. It was a bit drizzly and muddy but she did great!

I started Saturday off with a run/hike up the Pine and Cedar Lakes trail with Kelsey. She's training for the Wonderland run in August (a crazy 90+mile run around Mt. Rainier) so she's doing crazy long hill workouts to prepare...once I was done running, she repeated the trail three more times!

Once I came home, we packed sandwiches and headed to Anacortes and biked the Tommy Thompson trail. It's a flat mostly paved trail about 6.5 miles round trip. Everyone had fun and we stopped for ice cream on the way home to end the day.

When you decide to stop for ice cream and have to scrounge around the car for enough masks for everyone...looks like we need to work on the proper way to wear a mask!

Sunday was an even nicer day, so after we finished watching church, we made sandwiches (again) and headed up towards Mt. Baker. We always pass the trailhead for Excelsior Pass on our way to the sno-park in the winter and talk about hiking it but never have, so we decided to try it. At mile 1.5 was a campsite which made for a perfect spot to have lunch; plus it had a gorgeous view of a waterfall! Hiking is one of those things where we have to make sure and get back to the car while everyone is still having a good time!! Next time, we'll get an earlier start and pack more food because it sounds like there is an amazing view of Mt. Baker from the top!

There were some huge trees that had fallen down!

Kyle and Haleigh looking at the river.